Drawing up medications using 2 different vials

[betweenus64, LPN]

I am a nurse who has not worked in a place where we use 2 different medications to draw up into one syringe and want to know how to do this. These vials ARE not one dose vials, so its important not to inject anything in to one vial with the other medications. Please tell me how to do this where i cannot mess up. I am using what our doctors call 4/40....it is depo- and another .....and I am also drawing up rocephin and lidocaine,,,,again, we reuse these vials so they need not be mixed together.....and are liquid! no powders!!!

help

rose

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Moved to allnurses Nursing and Patient Medications

Hope these links help you:

Vials - Medication Administration 3 - ATI Testing

Mixing Medications in One Syringe, Using Two Vials

[h=3]Lippincott's Photo Atlas of Medication Administration[/h]

Please be aware of safety issues with multi doses vials, especially if used for more than 1 patient:

[h=3]CDC - Syringe Reuse - Injections Safety[/h]

[klone, MSN, RN]

I am a nurse who has not worked in a place where we use 2 different medications to draw up into one syringe and want to know how to do this. These vials ARE not one dose vials, so its important not to inject anything in to one vial with the other medications. Please tell me how to do this where i cannot mess up. I am using what our doctors call 4/40....it is depo- and another .....and I am also drawing up rocephin and lidocaine,,,,again, we reuse these vials so they need not be mixed together.....and are liquid! no powders!!!

help

rose

It sounds like you work in outpatient women's health, so I have a couple questions. First, what are you mixing with the Depo? Is this Depo Provera or Depo Lupron (I've never heard of Depo Provera mixed with anything else)?

Secondly, with regards to ceftriaxone and Lidocaine - which vial is the multi-use? I'm assuming the Lidocaine? I have NEVER seen ceftriaxone in multi-dose bottles. So with the Lidocaine, you would be drawing that up first anyway, in order to inject into the ceftriaxone vial, thus no risk of contamination of the Lidocaine bottle.

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

it could be depomedrol 40mg/ with decadron 4mg (both do come in multidose vials,

roceph does come in 2gm.....bottles, sometimes only one gram is ordered......

what I do holding the barrel, plunger of the syringe, with side pressure by my ring finger, and a small air meniscus, on top of say the 1cc of decadron/4mg.,

and gently aspirate from stopper of second vial, say depomedrol.......while maintaining neg. presure during aspiration, until the appropriate 2nd. medication is withdrawn. I then change needles.